NEVER Factory order a Mustang

[HISSMAN]

I'm not needy enough that I NEED to order a car. I will find what I am looking for at a dealership. If I have to drive 10 hours one way to get it, so be it.

Sponsored

 

[ihc95]

I was looking into ordering a 2018 back in February but I've read similar stories like these about how bad the ordering process and communication is with Ford so I decided to find one on the lot that was "close enough." Tbh, I would avoid custom ordering from any American car mfr. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Porsche etc are all much better to custom order cars from since they constantly have customers doing it.

 

[local driver]

I have been ordering cars from GM for the last 30 years. In that time I have bought only one new car off the lot, only because it was a deeply discounted model closeout. Never a problem. I even ordered a GM car that was made in South Korea, and got it in 12 weeks!

I love getting exactly the car I want, with 2 miles on the odometer. Next year I plan to order a new Mustang. from Ford. If it's late, it's late. Not gonna worry.

 

[Weasel1]

I ordered my ‘17 GTPP from Ford and had zero problems, quick delivery, and got what I ordered.

 

[Zathras]

It's frustrating that you can order a $20 pizza for delivery, with just the toppings you want, and track it's location in real time as it's being delivered to you. But you can't do that with a major purchase like a car (from most manufacturers).

I agree with the previous poster who said that the big domestic automakers consider custom, personal orders to be a nuisance.They want to build whatever is convenient and profitable for them. Thankfully there are inventory search engines so you can at least do some shopping online, to find something close to what you want.

 

[Weasel1]

It's frustrating that you can order a $20 pizza for delivery, with just the toppings you want, and track it's location in real time as it's being delivered to you. But you can't do that with a major purchase like a car (from most manufacturers).

I agree with the previous poster who said that the big domestic automakers consider custom, personal orders to be a nuisance.They want to build whatever is convenient and profitable for them. Thankfully there are inventory search engines so you can at least do some shopping online, to find something close to what you want.

When I ordered mine, as soon as a VIN was assigned, I could track the car through the entire process on Ford’s website.

 

[RichBrew]

I'm not needy enough that I NEED to order a car. I will find what I am looking for at a dealership. If I have to drive 10 hours one way to get it, so be it.

Its naive and rude to imply that a custom order makes someone 'needy'. If i'm spending $40k+ for a car, its needs to be exactly what i want, not something similar to what i want. Not everything is available on a dealer lot. The options i chose for a 2018 were available only on a single car in the US, and it was 4500 miles away. That's right, 4500. I live in GA, and the car was in Hawaii. I chose to custom order instead of settle for a car that wasn't what i wanted.

 

[ElAviator72]

I ordered my ‘17 GTPP from Ford and had zero problems, quick delivery, and got what I ordered.

Quick delivery is going to depend on where your dealer is at. Allocations for dealers are based on previous year Mustang sales...and when your dealer's allocation is up, their cars (lot inventory) take precedence over yours.

Also, as others have said, if you order some oddball options, or even something that's really in demand, you can get placed on "parts hold" (Ford can't get enough of the needed parts to satisfy demand for the time being).

 

[Spork3245]

Its naive and rude to imply that a custom order makes someone 'needy'. If i'm spending $40k+ for a car, its needs to be exactly what i want, not something similar to what i want. Not everything is available on a dealer lot. The options i chose for a 2018 were available only on a single car in the US, and it was 4500 miles away. That's right, 4500. I live in GA, and the car was in Hawaii. I chose to custom order instead of settle for a car that wasn't what i wanted.

Bingo.

Quick delivery is going to depend on where your dealer is at. Allocations for dealers are based on previous year Mustang sales...and when your dealer's allocation is up, their cars (lot inventory) take precedence over yours.

Also, as others have said, if you order some oddball options, or even something that's really in demand, you can get placed on "parts hold" (Ford can't get enough of the needed parts to satisfy demand for the time being).

Yep. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, finding a high-volume (prioritized) dealer is key. Mine was ordered on 04/03/2018 and delivered on 07/13/2018, that's 14 weeks, a little over 3 months. Those German manufacturers that everyone is praising, guess how long it takes for a custom order on an RS/M/AMG car to be delivered? 90-120 days is the average.

It's not about being "needy" it's about getting exactly what you want on something you're going to have for a long time - I'm not going to "settle" for a color I don't want or to not have the options that I do want (ie: Magneride) on a large purchase. My initial order of a 2018 was canceled due to Magenride system constraints, my dealership called me immediately and said "we can still do the order without the Magneride, or we can cancel it and re-do the order as a 2019 car", I, of course, said to re-do the order. During this time I had a few other dealerships check inventory, and in the entire country, there were zero cars packaged the way I wanted with the color options that I wanted. I waited 3 short months and boom, I got the car I wanted, and for over $5k off sticker.

EDIT: BTW, I want to make it clear that I'm not arguing that waiting on your car for several months doesn't absolutely suck, because it certainly does! Also, dealerships need to be more honest/direct about the timeframe generally being closer to 3-4 months, not the short 6-8 weeks that they often nonsensically claim. Even my salesman at the dealership I purchased from said (not verbatim) "they usually claim around 8 weeks, but that really depends on options... it's really probably closer to the 12-14 week range".

 

[jenksdrummer]

I will say that the process of ordering that I am still going through, with anticipated delivery coming up (showing actual movement on rail now) - I can agree with you to a point.

But did you actually SPEND that money? No. The whole deposit thing is to help one get locked in to the buy process, mainly because the custom configuration may be a hard sell otherwise. Not everyone might want those options; meaning that sits on the lot taking up space. My dealer wanted a $500 check as that hold fee. It also (ideally) keeps them from selling your VIN. Granted, they didn't cash that check so there's realistically nothing binding other than verbal agreements and what I did get in writing.

My dealer also said typically 8 weeks but could be up to 12. Just plan on 12 because we probably will deliver in less than that but in case we can't, we're not the bad guy. As it is, tomorrow marks off week 15. It'll be week 16 + 1 day if it arrives on the current EDD.

Will I do this again? Probably not, TBH. I'll probably go for other dealer stock. To that, I did spec what I wanted to the dealer, and they did a search and that car didn't exist. I did the same, and confirmed. I kept checking and a few weeks later found what was my 1st choice sold off a lot to a forum member, good for him; but not all dealers list their inventory too.

In the end the only thing I compromised on was color - which when I first put this all together was actually my #1 choice, then I wanted Lightening Blue; but the 2019 doesn't have that as a color option; so back to my original #1 choice being Magnetic Gray or whatever they call it.

As depressive as the timeline is and has been, provided all this works out in the next couple weeks, I'll be glad it's done. I will most likely enjoy the car quite a bit. Later, I'll get a new truck - probably the Ranger if it can tow a trailer + the mustang on it, if not I may get the Bronco as I'm sure it will have that ability, and barring that, probably a Tacoma and call it a day with my vehicle purchases, as by then my wife's 2012 Camry will be overdue for a replacement (just rolled 100K, by then 200K probably)

Anyhow - long post...lol

 

[Brian V]

That's nice to know . Glad I lucked on a mustang to my liking .

 

[Flare65]

Why I'll never understand why anyone has to factory order a Mustang. There's a zillion on the lot around me and you save a ton buying off the lot.
The only car you factory order is something like a BMW, Audi, or Porsche to avoid paying for several thousands in options (as in $10K+) that only ordering can avoid in most dealerships.

A new car is a major purchase for some people. If I'm dropping 50K on a car, it better be exactly what I want. Personally, I view a new car as a long term purchase, one that I don't intend to sell or trade up after a few years. I knew it was going to be a special order to get the exact car we wanted. We ordered our 18 GT premium convertible on Feb 24th and picked it up from the dealer the first weekend of June. It sat in order processing for two months and the car only had 8 miles on it when we took delivery.

I talked to several dealers in the Chicago land area to see who could actually order the car. My first question to one of the dealers was "Do you have the allotment for a special order?" One salesmen gave me an important tip.... Look at how many Shelbys are in the showroom. If they have two or more, chances are that dealership has the allotment for special orders. How many new Mustangs are on the lot? Chances are if they routinely have new Shelbys, they have a high turn over of Mustangs and have the allotment to order the car and get the car faster than some tiny small Ford dealership out in the middle of nowhere. The big dealerships get priority because they sell them much faster than the small dealers. Ever hear of the phrase "The big dog eats first" well that's true in the automotive industry and a lot of other industries out there. If you ordered from a small dealership, you're going to wait longer than ordering from a larger dealer. The dealer I got my car from was one of the largest in Illinois.

 

[Jetnoise]

"At that time I was told, in writing on my purchase order, that my car would be delivered within 6 - 8 weeks. OK, that was a mistake on the dealer's part "
Feel your frustration butt.....
Most dealership sales personnel don't know squat about anything regardless of which brand is on the sign out front.
Make the dealership make it right in its pricing.
I have had countless cars order from factory with never an issue.
There is so much more going on behind the scene that you are not privy to in the manufacturing process and more than just Ford participating in the process.
Unfortunate you are having a bad experience and maybe model year change over is effecting things.
Good luck with a amicable final result.

 

[Cheese]

In the same boat OP. Had an 18 ordered back in February only to get wrapped up in the magneride constraint mess. Waited until April only to be told that the 18 couldn't be built. Placed an order for a 19 with magneride as soon as I was able. Found out that the dealership was a small market and no guarantee that it would ever be fulfilled. Cancelled my order with that dealership and placed an order with a supposed large volume dealer in Vegas.

Here I am now on my 3rd order with a second dealership that is supposedly the largest volume dealer in NV and I am back on constraint with still no VIN or any idea when I will see the vehicle.

I have been in touch with another dealer out of state to see about a GT 350. I really want the regular GT as I don't think I would do the 350 justice but damn it if Ford wont build the thing for me. I am hoping to hear some good news in the next couple of fridays. Otherwise I miss the summer again and will end up taking delivery right as the nasty weather moves in.

 

[msweet]

Lol, spare a thought for the ROW...

Waited over 12 months for the first one. It's been 5 months this time around, car is still 2 months away haha and COTUS don't work for us so I have nfi where my car is

Sponsored